Greatest Hits, Reissues And Compilations; In a Wide Holiday Groove, From Sinatra to a Remixed 'Messiah'

By JON PARELES

Published: November 26, 2004

''SANTANA'' -- (Columbia Legacy). Santana's debut album, ''Santana,'' arrived in 1969 like a thunderbolt of Latin rhythm. On its first album, Santana showed more of its beginnings as a blues band than it would in later years, but the album set the template for a long career to follow: conga-driven instrumentals that surged behind the jabs and wails of Carlos Santana's guitar solos, like ''Jingo'' and ''Soul Sacrifice,'' and radio-ready songs about the perfidy of women like ''Evil Ways.'' The extra disc of the reissue includes some tepid ''original studio sessions,'' but they're followed by the performance that would put Santana on the map: a set from the Woodstock Festival in 1969 that still simply burns. JON PARELES